On the Mind, Soccer and Music Concerts – Life at #Hayfest UK 2013 with Alex Kandie

The past 2 days at Hay have turned out to be quite memorable. One of the authors I was privileged to take care of on Tuesday was Ruby Wax. She is a famous American comedian who made a career in the United Kingdom as part of the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s. She is also a writer, performer and mental health campaigner who has suffered bouts of depression throughout her life. In an engaging talk with Rosie Boycott, Ruby admitted to taking on so much during her career that she “can’t remember” what her children were like when they were young. She shared openly from her struggles and addressed questions from concerned audience members, both in the auditorium and during her book signing at the Hay Festival Bookstore. This information is also available in her new book Sane New World: How to Tame the Mind.

Yesterday evening, I attended an interesting session based on the myth-busting book The Numbers Game: Why Everthing You Know About Soccer Is All Wrong. Chris Anderson, a former professional goalkeeper turned football statistics guru, and behavioural analyst David Sally, uncovered the numbers that count in an engaging one hour talk chaired by Clemency Burton-Hill. Some of the astonishing findings in their book include; why preventing a goal is more valuable than scoring one, why taking too many shots might kill you, and why it is far better to improve your worst player than buy a superstar. As a soccer fanatic, this was a really informative discussion that I cannot do any justice of it in this article.

To see more of Alex Kandie’s Photos from the Hay Festival UK click on this image.

Apart from talks and discussions, there have been a couple of artists who have held full-house concerts here at Hay. Some of the concerts that have been held so far have featured; KT Tunstall, Manu Dibango, Amadou & Mariam from Mali and Wara a band who have crafted their own musical genre with strong Cuban roots. Ed Byrne and Dara O’Brien have also graced the festival with stand-up comedy events.

Alex Kandie is a Storymoja Editor who Interned at the Hay Festival|UK: For more updates follow @aKandie and @SMHayFest on twitter.